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A virtually flawless example of Hondius' map of Italy, one of the most decorative of all early 17th Century Italian maps. The map is richly embellished with cartouches, sailing vessels, sea monsters and a wonderful rendering of Neptune and his mate. Portraits of Romulus and Remus in the lower right corner. An attractive example of this highly decorative and scarce map. While the later editions by Jansson appear on the market, this early Hondius edition has not appeared in a dealer catalogue for in Jolly in 10 years (Martayan Lan 1992). An outstanding collector's map.
Henricus Hondius (1597-1651) was a Dutch engraver and mapmaker, a member of a prominent cartographic family. His father, Jodocus Hondius, was also an engraver and geographer. While working with his father, Henricus was instrumental in the expansion and republishing of Mercator’s atlas, first published in 1595 and republished by Hondius in 1606.
Upon his father’s death in 1612, Henricus and his brother, Jodocus the Younger, took over the business. He set up his own shop in 1621, where he continued to release new editions of the Mercator atlas. Later, he partnered with his brother-in-law, Jan Janssonius, in continuing to expand and publish Mercator’s atlas, which would become known as the Mercator-Hondius-Janssonius atlas. Born and based in Amsterdam, he died there in 1651.
